King's Lynn still harbour hopes of having two finalists in Saturday's World Cup showpiece.

Hosts Great Britain, who have named Stars ace Robert Lambert in their team, have been joined by 'semi-final' winners Poland and holders Sweden in Saturday's 2016 final in Manchester.

He will by joined by team-mate Niels-Kristian Iversen in the showpiece event if Denmark win tomorrow's last chance saloon race-off – also being held at Belle Vue.

But Kai Huckenbeck has absolutely no chance of being involved in this weekend's race for medals after Germany's ambitions were ended at the first hurdle. They failed to pip USA to third on Tuesday night during a meeting that was, as expected, dominated by the Swedes and Australia.

The champions won the event to secure their passage while the Aussies, and America, will now get another chance to try and progress after finishing second and third.

They will take on 2015 runners-up Denmark and Russia in the four-team battle to grab the last remaining slot in the 2016 final. Iversen's country finished second in Saturday's Event One while an Emil Sayfutdinov-inspired Russia ensured the Czech Republic's interest would not last longer than one meeting.

Australia boss Mark Lemon, whose side finished 11 points behind the Swedes, said: 'We've been here before. We're going to the Race Off. No-one wants to go to the Race Off because it's so damn hard. But our attention is already focused on tomorrow.'

* King's Lynn Young Stars beat Belle Vue Colts 55-35 at home in the National League last night.